Few technologies have garnered more attention in recent years than generative artificial intelligence, with nearly every industry exploring its potential uses and impacts. One survey indicated that 65% of firms are regularly using generative AI in some capacity, and this number is expected to continue to increase.
Generative AI’s ability to reduce manual tasks — thus potentially improving employee productivity — has been highly anticipated. However, as companies prepare their strategies for a new year, PYMNTS Intelligence research indicates that this technology is playing a growing strategic role in companies’ finance departments. Our findings are based on a survey of 60 chief financial officers working at United States firms that made at least $1 billion in revenues last year. They suggest that CFOs are increasingly using the technology to help foresee and mitigate the pain points and pressures of an uncertain economy. Meanwhile, as generative AI providers vie for corporate contracts, it remains to be seen whether — and how — this competition could help CFOs’ strategies pay off.
Generative AI’s Strategic, Financial Use Is Growing
According to PYMNTS Intelligence research, CFOs in 2024 are using generative AI for strategic, higher-impact tasks as opposed to routine, lower-impact tasks. In June, the share of middle-market CFOs using the technology for medium-impact activities surpassed the share using it strictly for low-impact activities for the first time since data collection started in March. Forty-five percent of middle-market firms surveyed fell into the medium-impact group, up from 35% in March. The most common reported use of generative AI was for data visualizations and reports, with more than 6 in 10 CFOs saying their company used it in this way.
In addition, CFOs reported finding generative AI useful for financial tasks. For example, 68% of CFOs in June said the technology is important for financial reporting, up from 37% in March. In addition, 58% of CFOs in June said it is important for capital management, compared to 30% in March. CFOs in June were more likely to say the technology was important for completing nearly every financial task, including working capital optimization, treasury management, cost management, and strategic planning and decision support. These differences indicate that the technology’s strategic role in finance is on the rise. The only task for which generative AI’s importance shrank during the period was corporate governance and compliance.
CFOs’ Expectations for Generative AI Are Increasingly Positive
Just as CFOs are finding greater use for generative AI in their operations, their expectations for its future impact are optimistic. More than 98% of CFOs surveyed by PYMNTS Intelligence predicted that the technology would have a positive impact on their industry over the next three years in accelerating decision-making. This was up from 77% saying the same in March.
CFOs’ estimation of generative AI’s long-term potential for their industries jumped in every area measured. These included enhancing speed to market, improving the customer experience, helping with new product innovation, reducing operational errors and more.
Research from McKinsey confirmed the rising use of generative AI for financial decision-making and CFOs’ growing enthusiasm for the strategy. Seventy-one percent of finance departments investing in the technology said the tools have increased worker productivity. Fifty-four percent said the technology has improved their use of data for decision-making.
How CFOs View Shake-Ups in the Generative AI Horse Race
For many, OpenAI’s ChatGPT is synonymous with generative AI, but numerous firms are making inroads into the field. As competitors’ prospects rise, the question on many CFOs’ minds is how they will impact their investments.
Three of OpenAI’s top executives, including president Greg Brockman, head of post-training John Schulman, and product head Peter Deng, all stepped down over the summer. Schulman subsequently accepted a leadership role at Anthropic, one of OpenAI’s emerging rivals. He joined at least four other OpenAI employees who have moved to Anthropic, including the former head of OpenAI’s Superalignment team, Jan Leike.
These staffing shifts are part of a greater trend of OpenAI losing market share to its rivals. PYMNTS Intelligence found that 20% of CFOs still perceive the company as the generative AI leader, a decline from the 27% of CFOs who thought the same earlier this year. Meanwhile, Microsoft, Google and Meta all shifted upward in CFOs’ perceptions of companies dominating the generative AI scene. Microsoft takes second place after OpenAI, with 18% of CFOs viewing it as the market leader.
As the landscape shifts, CFOs could have more options to apply generative AI across different modalities and use cases, potentially making investment more profitable.
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The MonitorEdge Report Series from PYMNTS Intelligence contains a multitude of further insights into executives’ views on generative AI applications in the corporate world. Keep reading about this dynamic industry here.
